Cincinnati Museum Center unveils 50-foot-long dinosaur at Rhinegeist

•
May 14, 2018 at 5:00 PM

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC) and Rhinegeist Brewery are unveiling a spectacle 150 million years in the making Tuesday. CMC will display a specimen of Jurassic proportions on the taproom floor of Rhinegeist, the first time the object has been on public display.

After four years of excavation, another seven years of extensive lab work and months of articulation, CMC will unveil a nearly 50-foot-long Galeamopus , an herbivorous sauropod that roamed the earth 150 million years ago. This particular specimen was unearthed in Montana from 2000 to 2004 by a team led by Dr. Glenn Storrs, CMC's Associate Vice President of Science & Research and Withrow Farny Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology. CMC's Galeamopus is one a very few known specimens and is the most complete, with almost 85 percent of its original bones preserved. The unveiling at Rhinegeist will mark the first public display of this particular specimen.

"This is a really exciting opportunity for us to showcase an object of this scale and nature to the public for the first time and to do it in a totally unique, remarkable way," said Elizabeth Pierce, president and CEO of Cincinnati Museum Center. "We wanted to do this in a way that has never been done before, so we looked to Rhinegeist Brewery to help us out. They are a Cincinnati institution, an instantly-recognizable brand and destination for people of all ages. We knew they were the ones with the ambition and the space to match such a grand endeavor."

Throughout the historic restoration of Union Terminal, CMC has taken its objects, artifacts and programs into the community, connecting with frequent and new fans even as the Museum of Natural History & Science and Cincinnati History Museum remain temporarily closed. This Curate My Community initiative has seen mastodons, airplanes and early 20th century cars land at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, a rare Sumatran rhinoceros specimen on the campus of the University of Cincinnati and a polar bear in the atrium of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, to name a few. Until now, however, almost every object has been seen by guests before. The partnership with Rhinegeist will mark the first time a previously unseen specimen is unveiled for the first time.

To celebrate the partnership, Rhinegeist is brewing a special beer called Brittlebrain. The beer is an effervescent, fruity and slightly spicy Belgian Style Golden Ale clocking in at 8.6 percent alcohol by volume. Guests can get their first sip of the limited edition beer at the unveiling event Tuesday in support of CMC. The event is free and a portion of Brittlebrain sales will go toward CMC.

"Rhinegeist is excited to team up with such an impressive Cincinnati institution," says Bob Bonder, president and co-founder of Rhinegeist Brewery. "Jurassic Geist provides a unique opportunity for people from all over the city and beyond to take part in this unprecedented experience."

As CMC readies for the reopening of Union Terminal and new museum spaces in the coming years, it's giving people a taste of what they can expect. The Galeamopus will be the centerpiece of a new dinosaur gallery opening in November. The gallery will feature five other dinosaur skeletons from CMC's collections, many rarely seen before.

People can get their first look at the Galeamopus at Jurassic Geist on Tuesday at Rhinegeist. In addition to laying their eyes on the dinosaur and their taste buds on Brittlebrain for the first time, guests can enter a raffle for prizes like a CMC Membership, special exhibition tickets, Cincinnati Heritage Program tours, Brittlebrain merchandise and more. People can also pick the brains of CMC's two paleontologists, participate in programs to learn more about how dinosaurs ate, walked and lived. The event is free and runs from 6 to 9 p.m. A portion of Brittlebrain sales will support CMC. For more information visit cincymuseum.org/Jurassic-geist.